High blood pressure and breathing

High blood pressure itself is not a disease, but the risk of other problems is increased if you have elevated blood pressure over time. There’s also a clear link between the way we breathe and our blood pressure in many circumstances.

High blood pressure occurs when the pressure inside your blood vessels is too high, or when blood pushes with too-high pressure against the walls of your blood vessels. If you can imagine a garden hose that has dirt or sand stuck in the middle of it, it’s not hard to see how the pressure would increase right there. Perhaps it would even make a bulge in the hose if this “sand plug” became too large, and the water that got through would only be a small jet. In a worst-case scenario, it might even stop completely. Our blood vessels work the same way. Plaque can form inside blood vessels that makes the passages narrower and elevates the pressure.

When we measure blood pressure, we measure both the systolic and diastolic pressure. The systolic pressure is the pressure in the blood vessels as the heart beats, while the diastolic pressure is the pressure in the blood vessels between heartbeats.

It is normal for our blood pressure to rise in certain situations, like when we are very stressed or nervous, when we drink large amounts of caffeine, or when we smoke. Our blood pressure can therefore easily be higher when we’re at the doctor’s, which is why it usually has to be measured multiple times, and often after a few calm breaths.

So, our blood pressure isn’t constant, which is part of the reason it may be important to measure your blood pressure over time to get a diagnosis. It’s only when the average pressure is too high that a diagnosis of hypertension is made. This is sometimes discovered by a patient bringing a blood pressure monitor home from the doctor’s and wearing it for 24 hours to measure their average blood pressure over time.

The pressure in blood vessels is what transports blood around the body. If this pressure is elevated over time, it can damage the blood vessels and cause diseases. Heart attacks and strokes are the two conditions that are most often associated with blood pressure, in addition to kidney damage.

Although we can’t stop plaque forming in our blood vessels just by practising our breathing, there is a clear connection between high blood pressure and the way we breathe.

When we breathe a lot, quickly and superficially, our nervous system assumes there is danger present. We enter fight-or-flight mode, which causes our blood vessels to contract. They do this to make sure enough blood is led to our extremities (arms and legs) so we’re ready to fight or run away from the potential danger. At the same time, the blood supply to our internal organs and intestines is reduced. The problem, of course, is that there is no real danger present. Research has shown that even thinking about fighting with a loved one causes our blood vessels to contract and blood pressure to rise. There is, therefore, a clear connection between high blood pressure and stress. In today’s society, where there’s always a time squeeze and loads of pressure, it’s important that we find good strategies we can use to destress in our daily life. Focusing on long exhales has a very calming effect on the autonomous nervous system, causing blood vessels to expand and, as a result, lowering blood pressure.

“I’ve had clients come to me straight from the doctor, having been signed off on sick leave because of high blood pressure, who have been able to lower it with just five minutes of calm breathing exercises.”

When we breathe slowly and focus on longer exhalations, our parasympathetic nervous system – or our rest-and-digest mode – is activated. What happens when this is activated and we calm down is that our blood vessels expand to increase the blood supply to the intestines and internal organs. When the diameter of the blood vessels increases, the pressure inside them is reduced.

As high blood pressure often isn’t noticed through physical symptoms, it’s a good idea to check your blood pressure regularly. It’s especially important if you:

• are elderly
• are genetically predisposed
• are overweight
• are pregnant
• smoke
• don’t exercise
• live a stressful life
• drink too much alcohol.

Practising calming breathing exercises will be hugely beneficial. It will cause the blood vessels to expand so that blood flows more easily and blood pressure decreases.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
Published March 2021. About the stress response, adrenaline and cortisol, and how breathing exercises had a great effect on high blood pressure. 50% of those who experienced the benefit were able to stop taking at least one blood pressure medication.

Jacqueline Brenner, Suzanne LeBlang, Michelle Lizotte-Waniewski, Barbara Schmidt, Patricio S. Espinosa, David L. DeMets, Andrew Newberg, Charles H. Hennekens. Mindfulness with paced breathing reduces blood pressure. Medical Hypotheses, 2020; 142: 109780 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109780
(Study from 2020 that shows that mindfulness with regular breathing lowers high blood pressure.)

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200909100214.htm (Article about the study above.)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16231755/
How does deep breathing affect office blood pressure and pulse rate?
Hisao Mori 1, Hareaki Yamamoto, Masaomi Kuwashima, Saburo Saito, Hiroshi Ukai, Kouichi Hirao, Mikio Yamauchi, Satoshi Umemura PMID: 16231755, DOI: 10.1291/hypres.28.499

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/relaxation-techniques-breath-control-helps-quell-errant-stress-response
(Shows how stress-reducing techniques like deep breaths help lower the stress response.)

Slow Breathing Improves Arterial Baroreflex Sensitivity and Decreases Blood Pressure in Essential Hypertension (2005) – Mentions how six breaths per minute increases heart rate variability and the vagus nerve’s effect on the heart, and is the best way to breathe to lower your blood pressure.